


Dark December Days

by Retrospaace



Series: Four and Five Times [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Awkward Romance, Blackwatch Era, Canon-Typical Violence, Drinking, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Mild Language, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Relationships, Pre-Canon, Pre-Fall of Overwatch, Reader-Insert, Underage Drinking, Underage Smoking, because they're important
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-09 18:05:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8906443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Retrospaace/pseuds/Retrospaace
Summary: You're not exactly the most competent agent of Overwatch, but your friend Mei assures you that you definitely have a place here. Even if you're just a glorified errand runner...who happened to get a crush on one of the most intimidating people in the organization.Or: Four times you wanted to talk to Gabriel Reyes, and the one time he wanted to talk to you.





	1. I've Got This Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It'd be such a shame  
> (If they never meet)"  
> \-- The Civil Wars

If there was one thing Mei tried to reiterate to you, it was that you were not useless. Sure, you were the go to person to run paperwork around, and you could make a ‘mean cup of coffee’ (Mccree’s words, not yours), but you couldn’t help but feel like you were a very replaceable person. Maybe that was why one of the other personnel of Overwatch , a man by the name of Joseph, had requested that you deliver paperwork to the man in charge of Blackwatch. 

You had been sitting at your desk, idly  chewing a piece of gum and twirling a stylus around your fingers as you read over the reports that Strike Commander Morrison’s  second in command had given for you to file. It was rather interesting, really, reading about the going ons of Overwatch. It always made you feel a bit proud and smug that you were a part of it (not directly, of course); plus it amused you to no end that Captain Amari left sarcastic little quips all over her reports. You had gotten to a particularly humorous section when the door leading to the office you shared with three other people slid open to reveal Joseph. He looked rather nervous, shifting from foot to foot as he stood in the doorway holding a datapad. You stared curiously at him before clearing your throat and sitting up. 

“Hello,” you greeted him with a puzzled tone, “what did you need, Joe?”

“Ah, I...have a question...for you,” he began, head ducking after looking behind him.

You looked at him expectantly. When he didn’t continue, you sighed and waved him in. He quickly shuffled in as the door slid shut behind him. He took a deep breath and handed the datapad to you with one hand. You raised your eyebrows and took it, your curiosity piquing and a flash of excitement flaring up when you saw the word classified on the screen.

“Can you deliver this for me, please?” He asked, his tone almost begging you to agree. You glanced up at him, mouth twisting as you regarded him.

“Why can’t you do it? I’m already playing secretary for Amari at the moment,” You said with a hint of annoyance. Like, you get it, you were basically paid to help keep this place organized, but that didn’t mean you had to be  _ everyone’s  _ gopher (just the important people’s).

Joe looked off to the side, scratching the back of his head as he mumbled something under his breath that you couldn't quite hear. You sighed and asked him to speak up. He looked a little ashamed as he murmured, “I'm supposed to bring it to Blackwatch.”

You frowned, leaning back in your seat as you went to stare at the datapad now lying in your lap.

Blackwatch had a nasty reputation (though you suppose most shady-hush-hush organization were prone to have such reputations). According to office gossip, the darker section of Overwatch contained rather unsavory characters (not that you personally thought that; McCree was pretty decent). While they had their own section of office workers, sometimes the branches had to collaborate. The secretaries and scientist from Overwatch’s main branch tended to avoid Blackwatch ( office gossip made it undesirable, but those forced to deal with them did so with great reluctance).

You mused over this, all the while trying to ignore Joe’s pleading gaze. Honestly the man looked so pathetic and scared out of his mind that you felt yourself having a bout of reluctant pity on him.

You leaned forward onto the desk, propping your elbows and resting your chin on your fingers as they twined with one another like you were praying. You pursed your lips, and you noted that Joseph eyed the datapad still sitting in your lap. You restrained yourself from groaning out loud as you gave into your pity and reached down to lift the datapad from your lap and pointed it in his direction. “You owe me.”

Joe looked so relieved that you figured he probably didn’t even care that he’d have to probably buy you lunch at some point or another (hey, you didn’t do favors for free). “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He quickly reached over to a sticky note sitting on your desk and yanked a pen from the pocket on his chest. He scribbled down something and then stuck the note back on your desk. “That’s the room number. Thank you again!”

You twisted your mouth and waved off his thanks. “Don’t forget you owe me; I will be collecting that debt.”

Joe smiled and waved as he left, leaving you to stare at the note before you released an annoyed grunt from you throat and stood up to go play gopher like a good little office worker.

 

* * *

 

The sticky note with the room number became slightly crumbled in your hand as you stared at the numbers and then up at the plaque outside the door in front of you. The hall was sterile and you hadn’t seen a soul since you've left the elevator a few halls back. You couldn’t help wonder if it was just your nerves or a tangible thing that was causing you feel goosebumps rising on the skin underneath the sleeves of your uniform. 

You gulped, clutching the datapad in your arms closer to your chest as you readied yourself to open the door. You hadn’t actually ever talked to anyone in Blackwatch beyond the occasional quip from Jesse (though Jesse was just a kid so you weren’t  _ that _ intimidated by him).  The only things you had to go on was the gossip that surrounded the shady organization and the reports you  had to read over when you first joined. From what you had gathered, Blackwatch’s commander shaped up to be a mysterious figure that held a certain intimidation that had people like you (the background workers who didn’t like confrontation) quivering in their boots.

You peered down your nose at said boots and felt a flicker of amusement at how accurate of a statement that was.

Figuring that you had wasted enough time staring at the door, You cleared your throat. A hand  combed through your bangs briefly as you straightened your back and firmly knocked on the door. Silence followed the knocking, and you shifted uncomfortably on your feet as you waited for someone to allow you inside the office. When a few more awkward seconds of waiting passed, you raised your hand to knock on the door again. Before your knuckle could make contact with the door, the door slid open.

Your first thought on the man standing before you was that he looked...dangerous. He had to be around six foot, and his figure was rather filled out with muscle. A few scars littered the right side of his face, and a set of bushy eyebrows accented his stern expression. Once you looked passed those rather obvious things however, you’re second thought went along the lines of , _ Oh shit, he’s sorta, very hot? _

His hair was more messy than you would have thought. It looked almost like a curly brown mop, and it made you want to reach up and touch it. His whole face honestly looked rather handsome, but when you stopped on his eyes, you noted that they were  glinting with irritation and staring at you expectantly.

You hastily took a step back with a nervous chuckle.  You brought the datapad up and offered it to him with a blush warming your round cheeks. “Uh- I was told to deliver this to you,” You explained as you averted your eyes and shrugged. 

The man grunted and almost gently took the pad from your hands. You glanced back up at him, noticing that his attention had strayed to the datapad.  You wanted to sigh in relief that his attention was elsewhere, but before you could scurry back to your workstation, the man looked back over at you. 

“Who asked you to give this to me?” The man asked in a rather growly voice that caused a jolt to go through you. 

“Ah, Joseph Cruz, sir,” You replied while attempting to clear your throat as subtly as possible.

“Tell him the next time he has a report to give me, he needs to bring it himself,” The commander drawled, tapping at something on the datapad before his eyes flickered back to the words in front of him. 

“Of course, sir.” You stood there a few more seconds, waiting for him to dismiss you. When he continued to stand in the doorway and peruse the information you had given him, you scratched at your cheek and timidly asked, “May...may I leave, sir?”

“Hm? I thought you were on your way.” He turned to go back into his office, his face settling into an even more annoyed expression. Your view on it was short lived as the door slid shut, leaving you in the hall with a jittery sensation.

...Too bad for you, that jittery sensation would proceed to follow you for the next few weeks.

  
  



	2. Poison & Wine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh your mouth is poison, your mouth is wine”
> 
> \---The Civil Wars

 

You peered around the corner and immediately shrunk back when you noticed how many people waited on the other side. It wasn't that you were intimidated by the group of people that resided in the ballroom. No it was just one individual that was causing your hesitance.

“Mei, I can't do this. Nope, I think I'm just gonna throw you a smaller get together after this. Yeah...I think I'll do that.” You made to turn around. “So I think I'll see you--”

Mei smiled fondly at you as she gently grabbed your arm. “Oh, shush! C’mon, it'll be fine, just you see!”

“Mei,” you whined, dragging out the small Chinese woman’s name.

Mei giggled and shook her head. “Sorry, but you promised me that you would come to the official party. You’re not going to go back on your promise, are you?”

“Yeah, well that was before I realized that basically everyone in Overwatch would be here! Mei, c’mon.” You were getting desperate,  and the puppy eyes that Mei was giving you were quickly chipping away at your resolve to ditch the party. You had to convince her to let you leave before anyone else noticed that you two had arrived. Lord knew that once people noticed that the main guest had arrived, you wouldn’t be able to escape. Now that you thought about it, that’s probably why Mei decided that she wanted to arrive thirty minutes into the sending off party. Everyone would probably be eagerly awaiting her arrival and on the look out for her.

It wasn’t that you wanted to miss seeing who amounted to being your best friend off. In fact, you were immensely proud that  Mei, along with a few other scientists, had finally been granted permission to go on a long anticipated expedition to Antarctica. However, the moment that you had caught wind of Reyes potentially showing up, you had been trying to persuade her that you didn’t want to go. Despite your protests, Mei had continually waved off your irrational fear of Reyes and guilted you into getting ready and nearly walking in. The only thing stopping her from dragging you in the last few feet was the fact that you were a good five inches taller than her and the manners that she upheld in public that made it unseemly to drag people around by their ankles (make no mistake, she probably could’ve dragged you around rather easily despite her size).

Luckily for Mei, and unluckily for you, Jesse, dressed in a simple black suit missing its tie and hair normally tamed by his cowboy hat now loose and wild around his head, walked by. He paused and quickly did a three sixty  when he processed whom he had just passed. You groaned as the teen sauntered up,  ignoring Mei who beamed happily at the young sharpshooter. 

“‘Bout time you made it, we were beginnin’ to think you wouldn’t make it,” Jesse greeted with a grin. 

Mei giggled. “Well, we would’ve been here earlier if  _ someone _ hadn’t tried to leave every five minutes.”

You frowned but was cut off from replying by Jesse releasing a guffaw as he turned towards you, a heavy hand landing on your shoulder. “Really? You were trying to leave already? I thought you’d at least stay for the champagne and cake.” Jesse shook his head before continuing, “ Well, you’re here now. Might as well enjoy it, right? Now, let’s go get ourselves a drink while Mei gets her rounds done.”

You made a noise at the back of your throat as you found yourself being pulled into the large ballroom you’d been avoiding. Mei gave a small wave when you looked back at her pleadingly.

“But, you’re not even old enough to drink,” you muttered when you realized your fate had been sealed the moment the cowboy wannabe had spotted you. 

Jesse shrugged good naturedly. “Hasn’t stopped me before.”

“True,” you mused, remembering how you even came to know the former Deadlock gang member. 

You had been on a coffee run for some of your co-workers, rushing and freaking out because you were going to be late (you had this ingrained need forged by your parents to always be insanely early to things like work or school). You hadn’t noticed that you were going to run into someone, but thankfully, someone had grabbed your arm and yanked you to a stop. While the stranger had saved the person (later to your absolutely horror to be Captain Amari) from some nasty burns and a ruined uniform, you yourself were not so lucky. Dark coffee had stained your white blouse, and you yelped as the hot liquid burned your skin. 

The stranger, flustered, quickly helped you with your predicament, and introduced himself to be Jesse McCree (“Best shot this organization has ever see,” He proclaimed without an ounce of humbleness and a smug grin ). He helped you reorder your drinks afterward and wanted to treat you to another coffee at a later date. Considering he was at least six years your junior, you had declined, but he ended up treating you to a rather strong irish coffee two days later anyway. From then on, a rather odd friendship formed, and you came to the conclusion that despite his rather boyish charms, Jesse could easily drink you under the table.

You were jerked from your reminiscing when Jesse proceeded to drag you through the crowd of agents. Your cheeks tinted pink when you caught a few sly looks casted your way. Jesse didn’t seem to notice.

Eventually the teen stopped at a table laden with champagne flutes. He scooped up two glasses, and turned to hand one to you. You gently grasped the glass and cradled it in both hands as Jesse took a sip at his. He looked around briefly before he motioned for you to follow him. 

He lead you to an area near some white pillars that provided almost a little alcove that you could use to hide in if you wanted to. You watched as Jesse leaned against one of pillars and took another sip of his drink. You glanced down at your own glass and brought it to your lips.

“So, who was it you were avoidin’, huh?” Jesse casually asked with an impish peek at you.

You felt the champagne you had begun to swallow freeze in your throat as you began to cough. Jesse’s eyes widened and he made to push off the pillar, but you waved off his concern. When you finished your coughing fit, you absently rubbed at your chest and looked over at the wannabe cowboy. “What makes you think I was avoiding someone?”

Jesse’s eyebrow arched. “Well, for starters, you damn near choking to death on your champagne makes it seem mighty suspicious.” 

“It went down the wrong pipe is all,” You replied with probably too much of a defensive tone.

Jesse smirked as he crossed his arms, champagne glass cradled in one hand. “Also, you’ve been makin’ excuses ever since this shindig was announced to not go. Especially when Mei brought up the fact that a certain blackwatch agent was supposed to be in goin’. Seems mighty suspicious if you ask me.”

You feigned ignorance. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, McCree.”

“Aw, don’t be like that. I know you know what exactly I mean.”

“Nope, not a clue. Let’s just drop the subject and go get cake. That’s why I’m here, remember?” You said with intention of going to get the aforementioned cake.

Jesse grabbed your arm before you could leave. “C’mon, you don’t have to play dumb. I know you didn’t want to come because Reyes is here. I also know you’ve met him all but once and I want to know why you feel the need to avoid him now because of it.”

You could feel heat lick at your cheeks and ears. You couldn’t tell Jesse why you felt the need to stay as far from Reyes as possible. It would be rather mortifying to reveal that you found the agent too attractive and intimidating. You’d rather he didn’t find out about your attraction.

“Seriously, Jesse, drop it. I don’t want to talk about it,” You warned, your face turning away.

“Did he do somethin’? I know he’s normally a good guy, but…”

You were even more mortified to have Jesse come to any conclusion that Reyes might’ve done something to you. “No! No, that’s, that’s not it at all!”

“Then what is it?” Jesse asked.

You cleared your throat, eyes looking everywhere but his eyes. “I...might find him...intimidating is all.”

Now both eyebrows rose. “You think he’s...intimidating? That’s why you’ve been begging to not come?”

“Uh, yeah...basically.” You took a nervous sip at your champagne, secretly wishing it was something stronger.

“I swear, you’re downright stupid sometimes,” Jesse chuckled. “He’s not that bad. Definitely not bad enough to be skirtin’ around him like this.”

Before you could reply, the lights dimmed. You looked around you in confusion before you noticed a colleague of Mei’s walking onto a stage in the far corner of the room. A hushed murmur rose in the crowd as Jesse led you forward. You felt yourself shrink as you weaved around the other employees of Overwatch, wishing you could be like Jesse. The teen effortlessly pushed his way past yielding shoulders while you struggled not to cringe and apologize every time you had the misfortune to bump into someone. 

Jesse’s gait seemed to speed up and you fought the urge to huff as you attempted to catch up with him. This unfortunately (that’s twice now, your luck is shitty this particular evening it seemed) caused you to run into someone’s shoulder and drop your champagne glass onto the floor. You heard a few people gasp in surprise at the sudden sound of glass shattering. You stared in mortification at the mess you made.

You turned to the person you had bumped into, mouth open, ready to deliver a rushed apology. You were stopped however when you saw who it was.

_ Just kill me now, please,  _ You thought as Gabriel Reyes stared blankly at the pool of glass and champagne soaking his shoes.  You spied champagne staining the side of his dark purple outer jacket, and groaned internally. It couldn’t have been just the shoes, it just had to be the most likely expensive suit jacket too.

Jesse, who had stopped abruptly when he realized you jerked to a stop, sauntered up to you and Reyes with raised eyebrows. “That doesn’t look too good,” He commented while gesturing vaguely at the ground.

“I’m so sorry, commander!” You apologized with a hint of hysteria creeping in your voice.

Reyes looked over at you, brow furrowing. It was then you noticed how quiet it was. You peeked out the corner of your eye and noted that most of the people around you was gawking at you. Your blush had to be making you look like a cherry at this point.

_ A very stupid cherry, who shouldn’t be let out into public. _

When Reyes didn’t answer, you continued, “I can buy you new shoes, and a jacket, sir, if that’s what you want…” You had to bite your tongue to stop yourself from babbling.

Jesse chuckled when Reyes just shook his head, mumbled something in spanish, and went off to wherever he was heading before your run in. As his hulking figure disappeared within the crowd, you heard the party continue back to gathering around the stage. You blinked and then bend down to clean up your mess when you noticed a server come and shoo you away.

You were in a slight daze after that. You listened half-heartedly to the speech Mei’s colleague gave, clapped when appropriate, and waved off Jesse’s concern when he noticed your absentminded gaze. You couldn’t help it. The anxiety of ruining someone’s things and then not getting a reply when you wanted to rectify the problem made you feel uneasy.

When you left the party, you realized that you were going to get Reyes replacements(if only to ease your conscience).

 

* * *

 

It took almost two weeks, but you were finally able to hunt down Reyes’ shoe size, coat size, and get enough money to buy said things. Mei, ever the doting friend, helped you pick out the styles and even gave you a pep talk before patting you on the shoulder and turning back to her work. 

At the thought of Mei, you felt a hollow pang in your heart. She was leaving soon, just a few more weeks. You had felt guilty for asking her to help with your trivial problem, but when you mentioned this on one of your excursions, she gently hit your shoulder and said you were dumb and not to ever think her helping you was an inconvenience. While it made you feel better, you still felt bad for making her occupied with your issues instead of the work she was so close to doing.

You shook yourself from your thoughts, arms tightening around the coat and shoes in your arms. You could go mope about Mei leaving after you filled your obligation. 

You gulped down air, feeling your heart flutter excitably in your chest as you marched purposely down the halls of Overwatch. Agents ignored you, and you were silently grateful that many of them easily passed around you. 

When you found yourself outside Reyes’ office, you cleared your throat and lifted a hand to knock. After wrapping on the door three times, you took a step back and bounced on the ball of your feet. No one answered, and you frowned. You went to knock on the door again, but it  _ wooshed _ open before you could.

Reyes glanced down at you, eyebrow raised when he noted the clothing bundled in your arms. “You again? What do you want now?”

You stared up at him, eyes focused on his mouth. You forgot how attractive you found him, and seeing him with his neatly trimmed facial hair (a particular weakness of yours) and slightly less angry face, you felt a blush coming on (especially when you realized you hadn’t answered).

You lifted your arms slightly and awkwardly stuttered out, “I figured I owed you some of these...uh shoes and a jacket...since I sort of ruined your other ones at Mei’s thing the other day...so, uh yeah I came to bring these to you.”

Reyes looked bemused as he regarded you and your replacements. He crossed his arms and stated, “I already fixed that problem.”

“Oh,” you replied, blush intensifying. “I, uh...I’ll just go now.” You turned to flee down the hall, but Reyes stopped you when he started to speak.

“Thank you, though. You can give them to me. I’m sure I can use them at some point.”

You looked back at Reyes, a tentative smile on your face. You turned and gently held out the jacket and shoes. Reyes grabbed them from you arms and draped the jacket over his arm and held the shoes in the other hand.

You both stared at each other in silence, your eyes roving over his face and him looking expectantly at you. When you realized this, you coughed lightly into your fist and mumbled, “Uh, your welcome.”

You scurried off afterwards, and Reyes watched your retreating figure before he looked down at the bundle you had given him, a small smile peeking at the corner of his lips.


	3. To Whom It May Concern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Slowly counting down the days  
> Till I finally know your name  
> The way your hand feels round my waist  
> The way you laugh, the way your kisses taste  
> I missed you but I haven't met you"  
> \--The Civil Wars

  
  


The days blurred into weeks, weeks into months. You felt the hole Mei’s presence had left, and despite Jesse’s attempts at helping you forget about that hole, you felt it as acutely as if it were a hand that you were missing.  The days seemed so drab, and while you knew the little Chinese woman would return, you couldn’t help but feel a foreboding feeling deep in your gut whenever she would write you messages to check on you whenever she could. You wanted to call her, but the line was off limits for social calls, so you made due with what you could.

To put it plainly, you terribly missed Mei. Even though you had plenty of friends and acquaintances, none of them could replace Mei as your Best Friend.  

It was during a rather overwhelming wave of  loneliness that you found yourself in the communal kitchens with a craving for chocolate cake and a glass of milk. Unfortunately for you, when you dug around the fridge, no slices of cake (chocolate or otherwise) popped up. With a heaving sigh, you resigned yourself to gathering the materials you would need to make cake.

As you plucked the eggs out of the fridge, you found yourself humming. With a shaking of your hips, you turned to dance over to the counter, figuring that you might as well make the baking process more fun by spicing it up with mediocre dancing. However, you abruptly stopped, cheeks erupting into flames as you found Commander Reyes leaning against the counter you were heading to, a brow arched in what you were beginning to associate as the face he normally made around you.

“Commander, sir, uh, can I help you?” You squeaked, your legs jiggling up and down with nervous energy. You hadn’t seen the Blackwatch leader except in passing, and while you smiled meekly and waved at him each time, the man had yet to speak back to you. Seeing him there, silently staring at you was causing your heart to kick into overdrive.

“You can carry on,” He replied, nodding his head to the eggs cupped in your hand. 

You stared at him, noting the tired look in his eyes and lines adorning his forehead as he seemed to stare off into space. You pursed your lips and walked cautiously to the counter. He looked exhausted and if he wanted to watch you bake, well who were you to deny him?

You gently placed the eggs at the back of the counter, aware that Reyes’ eyes were trailing after you as you went to gather the rest of the ingredients. He didn't offer to help, and you didn't ask. He seemed content to watch, and in all honestly you preferred to cook on your own.

When everything laid on the counter, you went about placing the flour in a bowl and cracking eggs into it. From the corner of your eye, you spotted Reyes shifting closer. Your heart rate spiked as you struggled to breathe calmly in and out of your nose.

“So...what brings you to the kitchens?” You finally asked, hating how strained you sounded. Your hands shook as you placed the eggshells in the sink beside you, and you hoped Reyes hadn't noticed.

The man shrugged. “I needed a break.”

“Ah…” You trailed off, not quite sure how to reply to that. 

“Any reason why you're baking?” He inquired.

“No, not really...I was just really craving cake.” It was your turn to shrug as you went about stirring the contents of the bowl.

Reyes hummed. He became silent, and eventually you found yourself forgetting he was even there. You continued to stir, occasionally putting in ingredients until the batter became thick and inviting. You stood back from the bowl, turning to go find a pan until you found your face almost pressed up against a muscular chest. You squeaked and scuttled backwards.

Reyes held out a glass pan. You smiled sheepishly, ignoring the warmth that spread across your cheeks. “Thanks,” you mumbled, grabbing the pan and setting it on the counter. 

Reyes shrugged but didn’t move from his position rather close to your back. You gulped, wondering if he had been standing there the whole time you had been stirring the batter. If he had, you silently wished for your ignorance to come back because now all you could do was feel the imaginary heat coming off the Hispanic man’s body.

You gently raised the bowl and tilted it into the pan after you had made sure to coat the pan with a thin layer of  butter. When the batter settled, you looked over at Reyes, holding the bowl out to him. “Do you mind putting that in the sink for me…?”

Reyes took the bowl from you. You turned back to the counter and then carefully picked up the glass pan so you could place it in the oven that you had preheated earlier. When the cake sat snuggly in the oven, you lightly dusted your hands off and placed them on your hips with a huff. “Well, now we wait.”

Reyes didn’t reply, and you assumed that he had went back to doing whatever it had been he was doing earlier. Imagine your surprise then when you went to go wash off the batter on your hands and found Reyes leaning still on the counter next to the sink. The sunshine streaming from the window caressed his features and made his normally dark eyes appear warmer. A shock of fluttery butterflies erupted in your stomach, and you had to forcibly make yourself not tremble when you reached the sink and turned it on. 

“Did you want cake too?” you finally asked after shutting the water back off. 

Reyes nodded absently. He had an intense look on his face that was stabbing at your nerves.

You nodded back slowly, rubbing your hands on your jeans. You had a brief flashback to Mei scolding you for doing that, and you can’t help smiling softly at the memory.

“What’s the real reason on why you wanted cake?” Reyes suddenly asked, jolting you from your memory. 

“What makes you think that there’s a reason behind wanting cake? Can’t a woman just crave cake every now and then?” You retorted. When you processed what you said, you coughed lightly into your fist to hide the blush taking over your face.

Reyes looked a bit taken aback before he schooled his features into a bemused expression. “You seemed...quiet.” 

“Well, you don’t know me, maybe I’m quiet all the time,” you replied back, mentally applauding yourself on not stuttering. The expression on his face was rather distracting since the corner of his mouth teased at turning into a smile but stayed more neutral than you would’ve hoped. 

“Jesse says otherwise.”

“Wait, you guys have talked about me?” You nearly shrieked, feeling a rush of mortifying horror come over you. Who knew what the former deadlock gang member could say about you. He knew you were intimidated by him, and dear Heavens don’t say that he said anything about that.

If Reyes seemed taken aback by your sass earlier, he looked almost flabbergasted at your tone. “In passing, yes,” the commander admitted, both brows furrowed on his brow. “Nothing bad besides your excessive talking at times.”

“Oh, I talk too much, huh? Hypocritical punk,” you grumbled under your breath. 

Reyes snorted and you realised that he heard you. You gave a nervous chuckle and tugged at the hair near your ear. “I mean, I’m right, aren’t I?”

“You’re not wrong,” Reyes confirmed, a fond smile spreading across his face. It was the first time you had seen the normally stoic man smile. You wanted to pass out (Or giggle maniacally at how cute it looked in private). Fortunately, you did neither and instead was saved by the smell of chocolate cake wafting from the oven. 

When you opened the oven door, you were slightly disappointed to see that the cake wasn’t finished yet. You sighed and leaned back, allowing the oven door to close. Reyes, noting that you were not getting the cake yet, crossed his arms and stared sternly at you. “Now, are you going to answer my question now?”

You squirmed in place. On one hand, you wanted to talk about the loneliness that had been plaguing you, but on the other hand you didn’t think it would be worth it. Surely Reyes had better things to concern himself with?

The continued stern expression eventually made you crack. 

“I...I just miss my friend is all. She’s on the Antarctic expedition and well, I just really miss her is all..and yeah…” You trailed off, mouth pursing as you stared at the window. You felt a sting at the corner of your eyes and you swallowed the lump forming in your throat.   
  


“Y-yeah,” you muttered a few minutes after your confession, wincing when you heard the crack in your voice. “I just miss Mei a lot.”

You were not about to cry. Nope. Not at all.

Damn it.

You felt a tear slip down your cheek when you felt a tidal wave of loneliness engulf your fragile disposition. You quickly jerked your head to where it faced away from Reyes, but the damage had been down. 

The commander moved from the corner of your eye, and you had to hold in a gasp when he wrapped an arm around your shoulder. The gesture should’ve been awkward (he was basically a stranger and technically one of your bosses). It wasn’t though. In fact the warm weight of his arm made your shoulders sag as a rush of tension left your body.

You allowed yourself to lean back, taking comfort in someone hugging you (even if that hug was just one arm around your shoulder). You closed your eyes, letting a few more tears escape before you came to your senses and carefully unwound the arm around your shoulder. 

You smiled brightly at Reyes, ignoring the strain it put on your face. “Ah I should get the cake out before it burns.”

Reyes nodded, his eyes holding an emotion you couldn’t decipher and decided you were too embarrassed to contemplate at the moment.

You grabbed at some oven mitts before you opened to oven and slid the pan onto a cooling rack on the counter.

“You know, it’s okay to miss your friend,” Reyes rumbled behind you. 

“I know...Sorry about crying though...that had to have been awkward…”

“It was nothing. It’s a normal reaction; I don’t blame you.”

“Well...good I guess…” You trailed off before you turned around, a warm feeling sparked by his words in your chest. A genuine smile lit your face as you asked, “So...cake?”

 

* * *

 

It became routine after that. You would get the urge to bake, Reyes would show up, and you would spend the time talk to him about your work, your day, and how much you missed Mei. Jesse would join you both at times, the punk often trying to dip his fingers in the batter or start flour fights with you. Eventually, he would stop at a stern look from Reyes. It was all very funny, and you were glad to see the father/son relationship the two had.

Eventually, during one of your baking sessions he told you to call him Gabriel.

You called him Gabe, he didn’t mind.

Gabe rarely talked, but he would smile (a real genuine smile that caused your heart to flutter and cheeks to flush) and allow you to rant to him about your office life. You griped about reports your coworkers pushed onto you, or the audacity Joe had to steal your lunch. Gabe would sit, humming in interest while he bit at the cake in front of him.

You reckoned he learned a lot about you.

It shouldn’t have surprised you then that he remembered your birthday two months later, but it did.

He didn’t do much to let on he knew it was your birthday (and to be honest you almost forgot about it). It wasn’t until you got a comm message to you room telling you to report to Commander Reyes’ office that you  were reminded of what day it was.

When you entered the office, the last thing you expected to see was a video of Mei, smiling brightly at you on the monitor facing the door. You broke into a giant grin, tears in your eyes as you rushed to the monitor. You cried out happily that you had missed Mei, and The little Chinese woman wished you a happy birthday. She listened as you blabbered on about nonsensical things, all the while unaware that Gabe stood in the corner with a soft smile on his face.

When Mei admitted that she had to go, you reluctantly hung up and spun around to look for Gabe. The commander murmured a happy birthday to you, and you broke down crying again, not even realising that you were throwing your arms around his neck. You thanked him profusely, and that’s when you realised you were in love with the commander of Blackwatch.    
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> So like im on break from school, and I've had this hanging around on my drive for a while so here you go. This should be a pretty short project (lol apparently im sucky at long term stuff whoops)...so don't expect super long chapters for this lolol
> 
> feel free to tell me what you guys think!
> 
> EDIT:  
> So I decided that I wanted this to follow songs from the civil wars, so I changed the name of this chapter to one of their songs. I totally recommend listening to the songs btw, theyre really pretty


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